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Did you know that the majority of marketers believe live events are critical to their company’s success, yet 80% of trade show exhibitors don’t follow-up with their show leads? Surprisingly, statistics shows that less than 70% of companies develop a plan for following up with prospects after events. Very few companies follow-up with prospects who registered for the event, but were not able to attend. What a lost opportunity! So much time and effort goes into organizing a stellar event that sometimes all sight is lost of the importance of creating an event follow-up strategy. After all, what’s the point of organizing an event and getting feet through the door if you’re not going to follow-up with the owners of those feet afterward? By letting the actual event planning take precedence over developing a post-event follow-up plan, you are sabotaging your company’s business development efforts. In order to avoid this, you must put time and effort into developing a post-event follow-up plan, which will turn promising leads into loyal customers. Here’s how to guarantee success: Before the Event – Plan Your Follow-Up Email In the chaos and excitement after the event, you will be grateful that you have done this beforehand. Event follow-up emails are a great way to keep new and existing leads engaged with your brand. Most marketing experts suggest that follow-up emails should go out within four days of the event. Some even suggest sending these out during the event. This makes sense – as exciting as an event may be, the harsh reality is that with each day that passes, each attendee remembers less and less...

If you’re serious about generating leads through hosting an event, you need to maximize the lead generation opportunities it offers. Did you know that the biggest challenge B2B marketers face with regard to lead generation is generating high-quality leads? And it’s becoming more important every day. In this post, you’re going to learn everything you need to know about maximizing the opportunities of a live event to generate leads and drive ROI for your business. 1. Lead generation starts before the event Prior to hosting an event, it’s important to establish your presence by creating a pre-event buzz around your event, your company, and your products or services. (Tweet this!) But, that’s not all. These activities should be aimed at actively identifying target leads. This means generating content that will attract your target audience because they can see the value you offer them. It’s crucial to know exactly what you want to achieve with your event and you need a strategy to get the right people to attend your event. To do this, your team can come up with a list of people the company needs to target. To come up with a list your team can decide what kind of person the company wants to target, investigate their online profile and activities and then target your message for these people. What you need is the right message targeted at the right people. This exercise also serves to generate general awareness and excitement about your event. 2. Get to know your attendees by collecting the right information You need to collect as much information as possible on who will...

Event sponsorship is an important aspect of many business events. It is a great way to build new relationships, enhance brand awareness, and attract new customers. (Tweet this!) Having the support of a well-known and respected company will not only be great PR for your business but will also gain the trust of potential consumers. In order to attain the ideal event sponsor, check out the suggestions below. Finding the Appropriate Sponsor Before you begin contacting sponsors, think about the type of company with whom you want to align your business. Think about your brand, what it represents, and who your target audience is – the answers should help narrow down the type of sponsor you need, as they should share these same targets. Knowing your audience is an important factor to attract potential sponsors. Companies want to know how sponsoring an event will benefit them, and the type of brand exposure your event can offer. Assess Your Event Assets When planning an event, identify all the ways a sponsor could benefit from your event. Think about where you could place their logo, if they would benefit from showing their products at a booth, or any other way they could market themselves at the event. By identifying the best opportunities for a potential sponsor, you are able to be clear about why a particular company would benefit from participating in your event. Contact Potential Sponsors Depending on the time-frame of your event, there are different ways to go about contacting sponsors. If you begin contacting them months in advance, you should start off with an email introducing your business and the...

Many markets have become increasingly competitive and businesses are continually looking for new ways to engage their customers. Promoting your business through events – event marketing, is one of the ways you can market your brand, product or service. (Tweet this!) Event marketing focuses on face-to-face interaction with clients via trade shows, live events, corporate meetings and more. In the 2018 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report of The Content Marketing Institute, 75% of marketers list “live events” as a top marketing tactic. Here are five reasons that you may need event marketing for YOUR business: One: Building brand awareness Event marketing allows you to build brand awareness firsthand. With events, you can interact with your customers in real-time. The advantage to that is that you can answer their questions and clear their doubts promptly. If you have an event manager, you can decide together whether getting media attention is one of your goals. If the media covers your event it’s a great opportunity to gain additional exposure for your brand and company. Consider also reaching out to influencers in your niche – schedule a meeting and give them an invitation to experience and possibly promote your event. Two: Generating leads With a live event, not only will you be able to promote your brand, but you can actually generate leads. Being strategic with your targeted audience gives you access to your target demographic so you can actively engage with strong prospects. When you announce or send specific invitations out for your event, the people who attend are those who have an interest in what can help them – your...

Hosting a marketing event is an excellent way to interact with customers, expand your audience, build brand awareness and increase sales. According to the Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends report, most marketers believe that events are the single most effective marketing channel compared to digital advertising, email marketing, and content marketing. Now, your company has pulled off the perfect marketing event. The venue was perfect, the speakers were engaging, the exhibits were just what was called for. And, the attendee traffic indicated a high level of interest. Yet, Monday morning, back at the office, the real work starts: following- up after the event. In order to maximize the impact of your event, you need to have a strategy to follow-up with attendees, stakeholders and prospects after the event. Here are some post-event strategies you can follow to help you convert prospects into buyers and leave a positive and lasting impression on your event and business. 1. Plan your post-event strategy when you begin to plan your event Planning an event and hosting it is time-consuming and demanding. If you don’t plan your follow-up strategy beforehand, chances are there will be at best, very poor follow-up and at worst, very little or no follow-up. Scheduling who will do what to reach out to prospects after the event will ensure that the job gets done. Assign tasks to specific staff members. This may sound obvious, and it is, but you might be shocked to learn that according to the Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends report, a staggering 80% of trade show exhibitors don’t follow up with their show leads....

Growing a new business can be very challenging. You may ask yourself, “How do I tell people about my services? How do I get my name out to those that may be interested in my product?” There are many different ways you can use to market your new company. One of the most innovative ways to do this is by hosting strategic events. Events can help you build the visibility of your organization and gain awareness from your ideal customers. → SEE ALSO: Event Marketing 101: Getting the Word Out There are many types of events you can host to help achieve this when starting a new company. Some are more specific to the industry than others, such as hosting a family and friends dinner at a new restaurant or having a grand opening offering discounts at a new store. This article will explore some event ideas that can be implemented across all industries. Before we get into the types of events, here are a few things to keep in mind when planning your event. The most crucial element to consider is the return on objective. Don’t host an event just for the sake of it. When you plan your event, think about how it is increasing the awareness of your organization or its capability to help build your customer base. “The most crucial element to consider when planning a strategic event is your Return on Objective.” Tweet this! Here are a few questions to ask: 1. What is the objective of this event? 2. Will I be able to generate any new business leads? 3. How...